Reducing electrical energy consumption through behaviour changes

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to look at the effect of human behaviour, and efforts to change that behaviour, on electricity consumption in a high school setting. Design/methodology/approach – The study uses a mixed methods design of interviews and historical electrical use data to assess two treatments impacts on electrical consumption over time at two Fort Collins high schools. Findings – Both treatments, the energy efficiency awareness campaign and the energy efficiency charrette, were found to have a positive impact on decreasing levels of electricity consumption. Unfortunately, these decreases lessened over time. The key attributes of communication, motivation, and leadership were identified as necessary at the high school facilities level to ensure long-term success in decreased electrical consumption. Research limitations/implications – The implications of this research focus on awareness of energy use in public schools and how to use awareness as a cost-effective tool in decreasing electrical consumption. The limitations are the inability to isolate HVAC consumption loads and the small study size. However, this is one of, if not the first, effort to use awareness campaigns and charrettes in a high school setting to decrease electrical use. Additional research would answer questions like: how to increase the charrette impact time; could these programs be adopted district wide at all grade levels; how could energy awareness be institutionalized so periodic charrettes are not necessary? Limitations include the inability to isolate heating and cooling electricity loads from the data. Originality/value – This study is the first of its kind and has value to facilities management personnel, custodians, faculty and administration members, particularly in a high school setting. This research provides a framework and potential guidance for a school organization to conserve electrical energy and achieve cost savings and environmental benefits.

Determinants of Energy Saving: Evidence from a Vocational School in Greece

“…It is important to note that behavioral energy saving is associated with nil or low implementation costs. Although some studies [15,16] found that the decreases in energy consumption due to changed behavior lessened over time, this is understandable because the amounts of energy saved are limited.…”

Energy efficiency practices in facilities management in Johannesburg

“…Energy efficiency awareness campaign has a positive impact on decreasing levels of electricity consumption. Attributes such as communication, motivation and leadership are necessary to promote energy efficiency (Kemp-Hesterman et al , 2014).…”

“…Kang et al (2017) examined energy savings using lighting. Kemp-Hesterman et al (2014) studied occupant education. This study is an encompassing study on energy efficiency where many aspects of energy efficiency and factors that promote energy efficiency were explored.…”

Advanced Strategies for Net-Zero Energy Building: Focused on the Early Phase and Usage Phase of a Building’s Life Cycle

“…There have been various studies that analyzed energy-saving through behavioral change caused by providing the energy-related information to end users of a building [159][160][161][162][163][164][165][166][167][168]. Anderson et al (2017) conducted a study to analyze the behavior change over two years caused by sending a message regarding the energy consumption for students living in a dormitory complex on a university campus in Seoul, South Korea [162].…”

“…Anderson et al (2017) conducted a study to analyze the behavior change over two years caused by sending a message regarding the energy consumption for students living in a dormitory complex on a university campus in Seoul, South Korea [162]. Kemp-Hesterman and Glick (2014) investigated the effects of human behavior on the electricity consumption, and the optimal solution to reducing the electricity consumption by inducing human behavior change using mixed methods (e.g., interviews) [164]. Endrejat et al (2015) provided the factors (e.g., motivational interviewing) to consider when trying to induce human-behavior-based energy-saving in a non-residential building from a psychological viewpoint [168].…”